


Like Father, Like Daughter

by BallofYarn



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Comfort, Conflict, Forgiveness, Gen, Hurt, Memories, Reminiscense, Sisterly Love, this turned out a lot longer than i expected
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 14:09:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15511557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BallofYarn/pseuds/BallofYarn
Summary: It's hard to maintain your identity when your father is an absolute madman. There's something deep down in your heart that makes you wonder if you are really more similar than you would like to believe. Others might say otherwise, but how can you ignore the face of your sinful father staring back at you in the mirror?





	Like Father, Like Daughter

**Author's Note:**

> This writing is inspired by queenofcats17's (currently) 2-part fic called Dad Privileges Revoked where Wanderer was forcibly adopted by Snowy (aceofintuition's version of Joey Drew) and split into her original form, Mary-Jane, along with the devil she was supposed to become, Ivy. I recommend you read both parts before reading this cause it's a super cute story ;v;
> 
> Part One: http://queenofcats17.tumblr.com/post/176114749805/dad-privileges-revoked  
> Part Two: http://queenofcats17.tumblr.com/post/176473542090/dad-privileges-revoked-2

A flash of light followed by the deep gurgle of suffocation grew louder and greater as Mary-Jane’s eyes darkened and the ink numbed her sight into a deep darkness. And then...nothing.

She was blind, but ever so slightly she could hear the eerie moaning as the ink swallowed her brain and infested it with hatred and sorrow. It crashed against her ears and wallowed in muted groans as if she were hundreds of miles below the oceans surface but could not swim up to breathe. It drowned her; suffocated her. It was like a dark hand had clutched her mouth and dragged her into an abyss of silence and abandon.

Then slowly, gently...

She felt a touch.

It came in soft at first before it swooped her up and cradled her close to an unknown body. The clutch was tight, yet soft as they protectively held her small and fragile frame close to them in an almost loving grasp.

The grasp of a father.

Slowly, painfully, she opened her reborn eyes, a wave of fiery red overlapping her already poor vision. It shone like the room was on fire and yet nothing burned.

Is this what Hell was like?

Her throat clenched as she swallowed the dark bitter substance of her body and her dark swollen tongue dragged over unfamiliar jagged teeth. Screams of agony rang in her ears, echoed by the rage-fueled protest of her captor.

A pull at her leg.

He was trying to drag her back to the void; back to the distorted realm of screams. Where there are no floors and you fall deeper and deeper into darkness, each second eating away at your humanity till you are nothing more than a dark reflection of your former self.

But the arms firmly clutched around her wouldn’t let him.

They pulled her away from the fiendish grip and led her to safety—to humanity.

To wholeness and acceptance.

“Alright, sweetheart...let’s see if we can fix you up...”

Her body was numb as she was gently and lovingly placed onto the floor beneath, flickers of candles ever so slightly glinting in her fuzzy vision. The last time she saw candles, it led to her demise. How could she be broken any further?

_“C-caNdLeS....”_ she whimpered softly as she tried to squirm to her feet. Her small, distorted limbs could only collapse under her as she slumped down with an exasperated gasp. A gentle hand was placed on her small shoulder with a hush following it.

“Relax, my dear, I am here to help you.”

Soft gasps and slow strokes along her horns put her at ease, and she was no longer afraid to close her eyes. She welcomed the darkness, knowing full well she would be protected by it. And if not, well...she was no longer afraid to die either.

It would mean escape from the voices that taunted her in and out, day and night.

The void called her, and she answered, her youthful form padding along the dark floor that blended seamlessly into the dark walls around her. No logic existed in this realm of her submerged mind, no up nor down; no left nor right.

_Oh, my dear Mary-Jane...do you really think you can hide from the darkness?_

_You really are just like your father, you know._

_I wonder if they will ever understand if they knew the truth._

...

Her startled youthful voice gasped into the night as she violently sat up in her bed. Messy hair flung over her face before she brushed it aside and glanced around the room. Ivy and Joy were still asleep, thank goodness for her as she would have hated to wake them up.

It was the little things that Mary thought about to help put her mind at ease. That her little sisters were fine, and that everything would be normal as usual. After all, she was in a different realm where her father had no big influence. Sure everyone hated him with a burning passion, but as far as she knew he had yet to discover how universe hopping worked. The girl hoped it would be a long time yet.

Quietly, she slid out of bed and pulled her socks on before rummaging through her bedside drawer in search of matches. She plucked one from the box and scratched it to life to light her candle and hold it near the clock. 1 am.

Her lips pulled to the side of her mouth as she waved out the match and carried the candle to the bathroom, carefully tiptoeing by her adoptive parents’ room and Gingie’s spot in the guest room. No sound stirred from them, so she could only assume they were sound asleep, as she wished she was.

Gently she placed the candle on the countertop of the bathroom as she silently stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her bed-head was awful and could easily be mistaken for a bird’s nest. She reached for her hairbrush, only for her fingers to brush against the cold marble of the counter. Then it hit her—she had loaned hers to Joy and she hadn’t gotten it back yet. With a sigh, she slowly moved her hand over to Snowy’s comb and used it instead. Surely he wouldn’t mind...at least she hoped he wouldn’t.

Her eyes couldn’t pull from her reflection in the mirror, no matter how hard she tried. She could only see her father staring back at her. Judging her. His sharp tongue telling her to stop messing around and act like an adult. To do better. To be better. To be more like him. _Why couldn’t she be more like him...?_

“Ack!” Mary-Jane’s tense emotions caused her to pull quite harshly on her hair and she turned away from the mirror to rub her scalp. She held her tongue from cursing—that would only make her even more like her father. Her lips curled as she carefully placed the comb back to its rightful spot.

But her eyes...they simply couldn’t stay locked away from the face of the Hyde-like man in the mirror. How her eyebrows lined up to his, their dark eyes and white pupils symmetrical...

Wait.

Mary quickly flicked on the sink and splashed her face with water before desperately rubbing it off with a coarse towel and looking up, praying she didn’t see what she thought she did.

Darkened eyes stared back, white pupils like tiny moons flickering in the warm candlelight. No, this couldn’t be real. It was just another nightmare, surely it was...

Except it wasn’t.

_One of us._

_One of us._

**_OnE oF uS._ **

****_“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!”_ The girl cried a lot louder than she intended, her wandering mind screaming and drowning her out. But among it all, a small voice spoke through. A murmur. A reassuring soft voice. Mary’s clutch on her ears loosened and slowly lowered as she spoke in a quiet whisper.

“...Joy?”

“Not exactly.”

She turned to see her muse behind her, her small paws pointed inward as she tried to fight the cold of the floor.

“Ivy...” Mary-Jane said, kneeling down to the small sheep’s level, the darkness in her eyes now flickering out. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You shouted,” Ivy said, rubbing her eyes and her tone sounding not as sassy for once.

“I know I did but...I’m sorry...I’m heading back to bed.”

Ivy shook her head, her blankie clutched tight in her gloves hands and her tail drooping exhaustedly.

“You were shouting in your mind.” She whispered as she looked up to match desperate gazes with the girl. “I could hear you...I always can.”

The girl blinked as she tried to comprehend the sheer possibility of the idea. “It was just a bad dream is all,” she said with a sigh. “You’ve been having a lot of those lately, after all.”

“But so have you.”

“I...”

How did the little toon even know all this? She shook her head and placed her hands on Ivy’s petite shoulders—so petite her hands ran off the sides.

“What do you know, Vee?” She whispered. “ _How_ do you know? W— _why_ do you know...?”

Ivy’s own pie-cut eyes flicked as small lips opened to try and create a comprehensive response. “Whenever I have a nightmare,” she began. “you have one too. And... vise versa it seems.”

“You had the same nightmare I did?”

The small creature looked down at her feet, her body trembling and slowly releasing soft black drips. “I dreamt I was falling...drowning. It was an experience worse than being forgotten. It was the experience of never even existing in the first place. Mary, I was so scared...I was already forgotten once and I...”

“No, no, no...” the human swept up her muse in a small embrace. “You’re too important to be forgotten...” the words that fell off her lips were all to familiar to her.

“If I was important I wouldn’t have been forgotten in the first place...” Ivy mumbled into her shoulder.

“You were never forgotten, Ivy...” the girl put her back on her feet and carefully cradled her head in her palms. “I never forgot you...papa never forgot you...and now so many people know and love you too much to forget you either.”

“Papa wants us to be forgotten,” Ivy said, her voice dead and somewhat hopeless. “He’ll find us and wipe us from existence so that no one has proof of his crimes. I’m sure of it. He’s mad like that.”

“That is not true,” Mary-Jane’s voice hardened as her throat tightened in anxiety. “He may be mad, but...there’s still love for us. There’s good in him, I am sure of it!”

“He killed you!” Ivy snapped, her form melting more harshly. “He killed _US_!!” You call that love, sugar??!”

“It wasn’t him!!”

“WHO WAS IT THEN??! _THE MUFFIN MAN??!”_

“I don’t know, but I know he would never ever do this to us! Not on his will, anyways!”

With a sudden movement, Ivy had lifted up Mary’s night shirt despite the girl clutching at her arms. “Vee, what are you—“

“You think it was a mistake, what he did?” Ivy snarled. “Then how do you explain that?!”

The ‘that’ the tiny toon was referring to was a faded scar that sat just underneath Mary’s rib cage. The healing flesh was a deep grey with no evidence of blood to be seen. The human swiftly pulled her shirt back down, her stare at the sheep firm.

“That’s none of your business.” She said strictly. Ivy stuck a firm finger at her face, sharp teeth baring and glinting in the candlelight.

“That’s where he cut you, isn’t it??” The devil demanded. “The scar of your sacrifice!!”

“Enough, Ivy!”

“TELL ME IT WAS ALL A MISTAKE!!”

“He never wanted to—!”

Mary’s jaw opened into a slight gasp as the small creature’s horns uncurled upward. Multiple smaller horns emerged from her head and her body shook uncontrollably.

“Ivy, pull yourself together!” She instructed as she shook her by the shoulders. Clawed hands swung out at her angrily, raking the girl’s arm.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!!” She roared as Mary pulled back, clutching her arm. “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, **_YOU’LL NEVER UNDERSTAND!!”_**

“I _do_ understand, just let me help you—“

Despite growls of protest, the girl carefully rested her hand on the toon’s cheek, stroking it softly. Ivy breathed harshly and winced at the touch before sighing and placing a gloved hand on the human’s. Mary shushed her quietly, her reassurance stabilizing her and easing her breathing.

“I understand, Ivy, I really do...” the girl affirmed her. “I think about what he’s done every day and...it scares me. But I can’t just give up on him.”

“How can you be so...forgiving...” Ivy finally whimpered as the horns began to sink back into her rounded head. “...after all he’s done to you...?”

“I refuse to believe that there are ever any truly bad people,” Mary replied assuredly. “Just...bad things that confused and scared people do. Besides...he’s my father. I will never stop loving him and trying to save him. It’s...just who I am I guess...”

The sheep chuckled and raised a brow, very clearly skeptical of her human’s point of view. “If he was so confused, you would think he would feel bad about his actions. But _no_ , he treats it all like a victory...”

“My dad is very good at hiding his emotions,” she mumbled as she stroked Ivy’s head. “I’ve only ever seen him cry...once, I think. He’s always so bottled up and...it’s not good for him.”

“You want to save him, I know that for sure.” Ivy said, rubbing the back of her head. “But as your friend, I have to say that’s almost impossible. Not only will he not listen, but he’s literally in a different universe. How will you ever be able to influence him, anyways? I mean, the thought is nice but—“

“Papa Snowy knows how to do it,” she muttered. Ivy froze and furrowed her brow intensely.

“He _what??_ ”

“He did it once before...the next time he goes, I’ll go in with him. I’m the only one my father would listen to, anyways.”

“Sugar, sugar...” By this point Ivy had climbed up onto Mary-Jane’s lap and clutched her face seriously. “He would never listen to anyone. It will only happen again—he’ll turn you— _us_ —into a monster again...!”

“We’re not gonna change him by punching him over and over again,” the girl said matter-of-fact. “From what I hear that is the exact opposite way of transforming a person. If anything it makes them more violent than they were before. I have to talk to him...peacefully. It’s worth a shot, at least.”

“And if he kills you again?”

“I...well then at least I tried...” Mary-Jane’s brows furrowed in concern as she looked away. Ivy shook her head wildly and gripped the girl’s cheeks.

“I HATE those odds!!” She insisted as she held Mary close. “You’re too special to us to sacrifice yourself to a devil like him!”

“And you’re all too special to me to let him hurt you,” she muttered as she clutched her muse close. “I just know that soon enough he will find the technology to come here and...who knows what will happen then...”

“We shouldn’t worry about the possible future—just the practical one! We’re not losing you, you hear?”

“But what if—“

Ivy flung her gloved finger to the pursed lips of the human with an exaggerated shush. “Never ever.” She said bluntly. “Ever.”

“Ok,” she agreed finally as she rose up to her feet. “You won’t lose me...but don’t expect me to stand by when my father comes.”

“We’re not losing you _PERIOD_.” The toon took her hand as they slowly began making their way down the dark hallway towards their bedroom.

“You’re sweet, you know that?” Mary-Jane whispered. Ivy chuckled devilishly and shrugged, her heart-tipped tail flowing behind her sassily.

“I’m as sweet and spicy as a marshmallow!”

“Marshmallows aren’t spicy, Vee.”

“Well you ain’t ever met a marshmallow like me, honey!”

“Fair enough.”

Despite the smile on Ivy’s face, she couldn’t help but wonder why Mary’s eyes seemed to glisten in the darkness. How they were so dark and yet her pupils twinkled like white stars as she looked around. But after all they had been through tonight, she thought it best to refrain from bringing it up. It was probably nothing more than her imagination continuing to run wild, anyways. But if not, then...perhaps it was best to keep a close eye on this young lady. At least for now.


End file.
